ARTICLES

Blessing Sin

TWO OAKLAND PARISHES RECOGNIZE HOMOSEXUAL UNIONS

St. Augustine's in Oakland and St. Augustine's in Pleasanton bless homosexual "friendships," reveal parish officials.

Deacon Jim Campbell of St. Augustine's in Pleasanton told a reporter for the Faith that he officiated at the March 21 "covenantal friendship" ceremony for Regina Stoops and her partner Dianne Berry. Campbell said that pastor Fr. Dan Danielson instructed him to keep the ceremony "quiet and low key." Hence the ceremony took place at a less visible venue than St. Augustine's-St. Elizabeth Seton, a new mission church in Pleasanton.

"Danielson would not actually approve of a gay wedding," said Campbell. "At least not yet. Maybe in years to come. This is not a commitment ceremony but a friendship ceremony. There is no public exchange of vows as such but we did have a blessing of the rings."

According to Campbell, 120 people attended the event. Guests placed flowers in a large vase in the center of the church. On two of the flowers were rings. Campbell said that he blessed the rings. In the "three cups" ritual the couple drank from three cups of wine. "The cup of bitterness symbolized those who would misunderstand and rail against their relationship-the homophobes," said Campbell. "The cup of sweetness was symbolic of their love and the cup of salvation signified the friendship of God."

Campbell believes that the ceremony sanctified the relationship: "It does. There is no official evidence of this...but it is done in front of friends and in a church, calling God down into the relationship-as if God wasn't already there-but nonetheless formally celebrating and blessing that relationship."

Regina Stoops, contacted for this story, said that the "friendship ceremony" at St. Elizabeth Seton made a difference in her lesbian union with Diane Berry: "It is not a marriage but there is nowhere in the United States that we could get married and you can't expect the Catholic Church to be the forerunner in marrying gay people. But this was a good start. The guests knew why they were there and what it was about. It was a kind of recognition and we do feel differently about our relationships now. All in all it was a great day."

Deacon Campbell also officiated the "friendship" ceremony at St. Augustine's in Oakland for two members of the diocese's Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Father William Johnson, St. Augustine's pastor, chose to "embed the ceremony within the context of a mass," said Campbell.

Johnson is currently on a six-month sabbatica. Margaret Roncalli, who is running the parish in his absence, did not deny Deacon Campbell's report, but was upset by his frankness. "Campell is trying to out us," she said. Asked if it is possible to get a homosexual friendship ceremony with Mass included, Roncall said, "That is probably not possible. The pastor would have to know you and be prepared to go out on a limb...because of the political situation. What happened here was a very long and detailed process. Father Johnson knew the couple...There was a long process with everyone who was invited. It was not a huge group of people. It was people who had been through a process of dialogue and understanding about what we are doing here...The Church is not really doing anything yet, at least not officially. Some people are taking these timid steps forward."

Does Oakland Bishop Cummins know about these ceremonies? "In general he knows what we're doing and he is quite open to it as long as he can defend what is done," said Campbell. "He occasionally gets flack on our behalf and he simply wants to be able to defend it. He's very good. For the next four years this will remain a welcoming diocese but when he retires (in four years) Rome will likely rein in our diocese through the imposition of a right-wing bishop. That's been the history of Rome so far."

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